


hold on tight

by no_nutcracker



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, X-Men (Movieverse), X-Men - All Media Types
Genre: Canon Divergence - Post X-Men: First Class (2011), Father-Daughter Relationship, Father-Son Relationship, Good Petunia Evans Dursley, Jean Grey is Charles Xavier's daughter, Lily Evans is Charles Xavier's daughter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-17
Updated: 2021-01-31
Packaged: 2021-03-14 10:13:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,083
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28793721
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/no_nutcracker/pseuds/no_nutcracker
Summary: Things take a different turn a couple of years after Cuba.For one, Charles discovers that he has a daughter.
Relationships: Jean Grey & Charles Xavier, Lily Evans Potter & Severus Snape, Petunia Evans Dursley & Lily Evans Potter
Comments: 2
Kudos: 9





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Somewhen after Cuba, Charles is contacted by an old paramour of his: Rose Evans.  
> This is the aftermath:

Lily is not a mutant but she is not like the rest of the humans either. She is _special_. And her loving sister recents her a bit for that. 

Charles can easily see how Petunia's reluctant envy could grow into pettiness, which could grow into resentment and jealousy and burgeon into burning hatred. He has seen it happen too often. With that in mind, Charles puts the girl aside one late afternoon, and tells her something she must not have heard often.

'You are special too, Petunia.'

Petunia looks at him with a frown on her face. Her mouth is twisted into a grimace. Her thin hands -pianists' hands- are closed into tight fists. She looks ready to throw a tantrum.

Yet, her eyes are glistening with unshed tears.

She wants to believe him.

She wants to believe she is as special as darling Lily is.

Rose and Andrew Evans are a lovely couple who strive to be good parents. And they are. They dote on their daughters and never looked badly at Lily for being _other_. And while it is marvelous (because acceptance is something that parents often lack, as Charles has learned early on in life) the way they always look in awe at Lily is bound to make Petunia feel less than her.

Funny how you can try to make things better and only end up making them worse.

(Charles knows that personally as well.)

'Why would you care about me, sir? You are only here for Lily.'

'It is true that I first came for Lily. It does not mean I keep on coming back only for her.' Petunia's lips tremble. Charles knows she is fighting from crying. 'Family is more than blood, Petunia.'

'You really think I'm special?,' she whispers.

Charles taps his forehead with his finger. 'I don't think so. I know.'

*

Years later, when Charles is the one feeling down (depressed would be the right word. Everything is falling apart. Sean is nowhere to be found. Alex was sent to fight a bloody war. The school is closed. It feels like Charles has nothing left. Except Hank... And Hank does not deserve all of that. He certainly does not deserve the useless mess Charles has become. Hank would be better off without him. He would be-) Petunia is the one there for him.

'It does not matter if the school is empty. It does not matter if you can't use your legs anymore. It does not matter if your heart is broken either. '

Charles huffs and prepares to berate the stupid girl from talking about something she could not possibly understand. 

Petunia pushes him in his chair, grips his weakened arms into a tight grip and plants her face into his. Then _she_ berates _him_. 'It does not matter because **you have us**. You will always have us. Sean will come back. Alex will come back. The school won't remain empty forever. And we will stay strong at your side while we wait for them all to come back. We will stand for you. We will be your legs. We will be your heart. Because we are a family and it is what family does.'

'Because you're worth it, papa.'

Bloody **precious** girl. Always bullheading her way through people's hearts.

*

Severus's father mysteriously disappears when they are ten.

Lily knows her papa is against all kinds of violence but she also knows he is very against people hurting children and mr. Snape has been hurting Severus for a long time. 

She knows her papa is the reason the man is gone. 

She thinks Severus knows it too.

They keep it a secret. It is not like mr. Snape will be missed.

*

Just because Charles is in a chair does not mean he can't have sex.

But it is true he could have better protected himself.

Well. Charles does not regret it anyway. David is a wonderful surprise.

Needless to say, the girls are delighted to have a baby among them.

*

Darling Lily is to be sent to study at a Magic School in Scotland. Because she is a witch.

The whole family is in uproar because they did not know magic was a thing and how could they have missed it?! Lily can do almost anything. From growing plants to making objects fly and lit them on fire. And she is not a mutant. Of course, the answer to the unanswerable equation lied elsewhere.

 _Magic_ sends Hank into a frenzy. Rose laughs it off and jests with him for being 'too much of a scientist to have been missing something so obvious.' Charles is delighted and plans to buy anything he can find about magic. Andrew is as unflappable as ever and continues to read his journal. 

Petunia huffs. 'Does it mean you'll spend more time with that _nasty_ boy?' Lily throws her a glare. Petunia smirk and shrugs. 'You know I think you could have better friends. Nicer ones.' 

(Those days, the sisters only fight about their neighbour Severus Snape. Petunia finds him 'creepy' and unworthy of Lily's attention. Lily regards Severus in high esteem and swears he is her other _best friend for life_. 

Petunia obviously is the first best friend.)

Lily rolls her eyes and does not respond. Her concern lies elsewhere as the time: 'How can I watch David grow up if I'm in bloody Scotland?!'

'Language, Lily,' Rose says distractedly while she watches Hank pulling his hair in frustation.

Lily crosses her arms and does not apologises. She taps her foot on the linoleum. 'I'm gonna miss everything! His first words, his first steps. I'm supposed to only come back home on hollydays. By the time I come back he'll have forgotten everything about me and thinks he has only one sister, not two!'

'Lily-flower,' Andrew calls from behind his journal, making her redhead swivel. 'This is a marvelous opportunity. You are going to learn real magic in another country. It will be like summer camp but year-long. How is not that ground for joy?'

Darling Lily shifts into Volcano-Lily. She stands on the points of her feet, tightens her fists and goes red in the face from yelling. 'EXACTLY BECAUSE IT IS IN ANOTHER COUNTRY! FOR TENTH MONTHS! AND SEVEN BLOODY YEARS!'

Rose tuts at the curse, not the ear-splitting scream or the flying dishes.

'I'M GONNA MISS EVERYTHING! I WON'T SEE ANY OF YOU FOR MONTHS! INSTEAD I'LL BE WITH PEOPLE I'VE NEVER SEEN BEFORE AND COULD NEVER LIKE FROM DUSK UNTIL DAWN! WHO CARES ABOUT MAGIC?!' Hank levels his head at the last words and opens his mouth. 'I CARE ABOUT ME AND ABOUT HOW IT IS MESSING WITH MY LIFE!'

Hank closes his mouth.

Charles pushes a flying remote control from his face. 'Darling.' 

Lily turns to face him (and Petunia who is sitting next to him and looking at her sister with wide eyes). Her face is the same taint as her hair and covered in tears and snot. Her eyes are blown wide and red shot. Her small body is shaking from anger (and he guesses from fear at being parted from her family for the first time in her life).

'It will not change anything.' 

Lily fixes him with a hard stare. Charles reads his girl easily and hurts for her. He takes his chair and rolls towards her. Takes her arms in his hands. 

'It won't,' he swears. 'It may seem like a punishment but it is nothing of the sort. Your dad is right. It is an opportunity. You will be able to learn all kinds of things we will all be dying to learn. Just look at uncle Hank.' 

Both Lily and Charles turn to watch Hank as he paces the two-meters of space between the dining table and the window. His hands have returned to pulling at his hair. Charles shares a conniving smile with his youngest daughter. 

'I swear he is wishing he could be a mouse hiding in your pocket to join you in this adventure.' 

Lily faints a grin.

Charles takes his daughter's hands in his and presses them lightly. 'You will learn plenty there. And you will meet plenty of children your age to play with. I know you are always saying how Severus is enough but having a best friend does not have to keep you from making other friends. And more people could benefit from having you in their life, my love.'

Lily looks at the floor. He hears her sniffling.

Charles tries to cheer his sweet girl up. 'It will be like the students in my school,' he adds with mirth.

'Then why can't I simply go to your school?,' she whimpers.

Charles looks at her red head fondly. 'Because we do not teach magic. We would have nothing to teach you, darling.'

Lily shakes her head. 'I'm sure you could! You already helped me how to understand my powers and how to control them.' Charles looks dubiously around the room and the clutter Lily made of it during her outburst. Lily does the same and blushes. 'You know what I mean, papa,' she says hurriedly. 'You could teach me better than strangers.'

Charles sighs. 'No, I cannot.' Lily fixes him with despair in her eyes. 'I don't know anything about magic. I could learn. And I will. But I could never teach you how to use it as well as another witch or wizard could.'

'But-'

'Think about it like that: your powers are going to continue growing. And if you stay here, you will end up feeling stiffled. Unable to use your magic freely. And if you come to Westminter with uncle Hank and I, it is true that you could be learning more about how to control your gifts. However you will miss on learning about magic, and the community behind it. It is a whole new world, Lily. And it is filled with people like you. Don't you want to give it a chance?'

Lily has let her head fall down again. Her long hair serves as a curtain but Charles knows his girl is crying silent tears. He pinches his lips and gently presses his hold on her hands again.

'It will be alright, love. Your family will always be here to welcome you back home,' he murmurs. 'The distance won't lessen our love for you. There is nothing that could make us love you less, Lily.'

' _You are not alone, darling_ ,' he pushes throught their bond. Lily chokes on a sob. She throws her arms around his neck and holds on tight, threatening to suffocate him. Charles holds her small body just as hard. ' _You never are. And never will be._ '

*

Petunia was right. Charles' other children eventually come back home.

Sean is the first. Albeit, it would be more apt to say he is brought back by a man named Logan -Charles vaguely remembers him from his past recruiting with Er- his days with the CIA. Logan talks about experimentations and a man named Stryker and the whole story leaves Charles shuddering.

For the first time, he is glad his youngest children are across the ocean.

But Sean is home and recovering. Sean is alive and with his family. Charles is so grateful for it.

Then the war ends and its soldiers are sent back home. Alex takes the long way around, picks the brother he thought was safe from his foster family's clutches, and drags the both of them to the Mansion. Hank, Sean and he welcome them with warm covers and hot chocolates. Logan gruffs.

The war ends. And life begins again. 

Charles gets the permission to reopen his school. And all too soon, Scott is no longer the only child roaming the Mansion's corridors. 

Petunia was right. As Charles has learned, his girl often is. Maybe he should think about make it a deposit mark: *Petunia is always right.* His precious girl would blush and hide her embarrassment by hitting his arm. Charles grins at the image.

*

Her parents and uncle Hank were right. Lily _**loves** _Hogwarts.

(She misses them and Tuney and little David and aunt Gabrielle like hell and spends all the nights before going to bed writing them.)

Everything is so big and magical: the paints with their moving characters, the Hall's spelled ceiling, the talking hat (she had wondered if he would be amenable to meet her papa and had smiled when he'd whispered a delighted _yes_ in her mind), even the stairs that keep on moving! There are goddamn ghosts and they even are friendly. 

The lessons are another thing Lily loves. She was always a good student and she liked the lessons enough in her old school -and when two members of her family are geniuses, Lily does not really have the choice to do anything but learn- but now she finds that she craves them. The knowledge is never enough for her. Goblin wars (even if the teacher is a bit boring), levitation spells, potion classes. They learn to ride flying brooms!

Lily loves it, all of it. 

But soon Lily learns a new word and it is nothing pretty.

 **Mudblood**.

Her new friend Mary- because Lily forgot to mention she made friends, didn't she? And they are all lovely! From cheerful Mary to fierce Alice to shy Remus- Mary said not to listen to those saying it and to ignore them and Lily really wants to but. 

But this is not just a dirty word. 

It is a slur used against her to degrade her. To make her feel lowly and unworthy. 

(She wishes Tuney were here with her to give her a hug and bat those bullies away.) She takes on herself not to cry, either in sadness or in anger.

It takes her two months before she finds the courage to write her papa about it.

I know, is all he writes back. No word of comfort. No 'it is going to be better'. No 'revenge is best served cold' like her sister would say. No 'ignore them' like Mary kept on harping. Just those two words. 

Lily is left feeling bereft. 

Two weeks later, Severus tells her he saw her papa leaving professor Dumbledore's office. Lily is miffed that her papa did not bother to come see her. He probably is one of the only muggles capable of coming to the school -most likely thanks to the mutant gene- and he won't even see her! She distracts herself from those thoughts by spending the following day and night hypothetizing his reason for coming to Hogwarts. She comes up with a hundredth reasons why and none of them realistic.

Everything is made clearer the second day when she descends the stairs leading from her dormitory to the common room. It seems that the whole of Gryffindor House is reunited in front of the entryway. A notice has been spelled to the entry door and it reads loudly that: '. _..slurs about blood purity, skin color, religion and sexual orientations will be punished with hours of detention and the loss of fifty House points each time they are spoken, cried, hushed.._.'

Lily hides her beaming smile behind her hand and rushes up the stairs to write a letter.

*

Charles loves Jean before he meets her. 

She is such a brilliant child Charles cannot help but be hooked. And he does not mean 'brilliant' as in 'smart' thought the girl definitely is. He means brilliant as in 'bursting with such power it makes his eyes hurt'. 

More than that, sweet little Jean is a telepath. And like him, she can not help but feel lonely even in the biggest crowds. 

People always think telepaths can not feel loneliness because their minds are always wandering. They don't realize that their rejection, their mantra of 'stay out of my head' makes telepaths the most lonely beings. 

But Charles does. As does sweet little Jean. 

He sends his mind to reach hers before he can physically travel to find her. He expects the awe she feels when they connect. He felt the same when his children asked to feel him in their minds and connect with him. He does not expect Jean to call him papa the way Petunia and Lily do, the way David as just begun to. Yet, he finds that he does not mind.

Actually, Charles loves it. 

Charles loves Jean before he meets her. 

And then he meets her and he takes her home with him. 

*

Sean laughs when he sees Jean. 'Another child, Prof'. I swear the school will soon be filled only with your children!'

Alex rolls his eyes and hits him playfully on the head. 

'Oh, come on!,' Sean whines. 'At least this one looks like me. Don't you think so, little J? Just wait until you meet Lily! Us redheads are gonna take over the world.' 

He winks and Alex shakes his head. Logan keeps on eating his cornflakes (it is ten in the evening, what does the man thinks he is doing?). Hank is the only decent one and looks at Jean with an encouraging smile.

Jean looks at Charles. ' _It is alright, love. I promise they are good. Well. A bit insane, but good._ ' It reassures Jean and has her grinning faintly.

She looks up at Sean and pipes up: 'Yes, we are.'

Sean widdens his eyes in glee and shots his arms in the air. 'Told you!,' he hollers to Alex.

Alex rolls his eyes a second time.

*

David is the cutest child ever and Lily will never stop being in awe of him.

Especially not after he puts Sirius Black's precious hair on fire.

*

Petunia one day asks why her papa never asked to be healed by magic.

'What is there to heal?' Charles answers guilelessly.

Petunia knows her papa and sends him a look. 'I remember how you were all those years ago when the school was closed.'

Charles smiles. 'As do I. It is exactly why I never asked if magic could give me my legs back.'

She frowns. 'I am not sure I understand you.'

'You gave me strength, Petunia. Magic... Magic would give me a false sense of security. I could be able to walk and then? The loss of my legs will never stop to hurt. But it is also a daily reminder of all I gained and lost. All I accomplished and everything I still have to do. And it reminds me of the strength you gave me when i had lost all hope.'

...Her papa always knows how to pull at her heartstrings, does not he?

' _Funny, I always thought you knew how to pull mine_ ,' is his smug telepathic answer.


	2. Chapter 2

It is the Easter holidays, and James' parents brought him and Sirius in a restaurant to celebrate his dad's birthday. You can only imagine the elation James feels when he sees Lily is also there.

And then, the despair that fills him when he notices she is in the embrace of a blond, good looking man.

'Prongs?,' Sirius calls him.

James barely hears him. His focus is on the girl he painfully loves. She is trying to get ouf the man's hold, and James would step in if Lily was not laughing while doing so. He has never heard her laugh like that and Merlin knows he tried. Yet, James only gets reluctant grins and eye rolls. Sometimes a huff.

James's eyes take their fill of Lily being genuinely happy and merry -the way she never is with him. Then he turns his head and faces his best friend.

'It's alright, Padfoot.'

Sirius looks dubiously at him. He turns his head Lily's way and opens his mouth. His next words at drown out by Lily's outburst.

'Papa!,' she shouts between giggles. 'Tell uncle Alex I did not steal anything!'

James' head swivels. 

The blond man - _uncle_ Alex?!- acts offended: 'that is a filthy lie, pumpkin. And I just have the perfect punishment for you.' 

The man, who is definitely Lily's uncle, puts his hand in a nearby cake and covers Lily's face with chocolate cream.

Lily shrieks.

Her uncle as well as the people that are sitting at the table next to them burst into guffaws. 

Lily takes a napkin once she is relished and attempts to clean her face. She glares at her uncle. 'Ohh. You are so going to pay for that.' Then she takes the plate with the cake on it and crushes the cake on her uncle's face before he can react.

In the ensuing 'battle', James is too focused on Lily running from her uncle Alex in the restaurant to notice her little brother taking a page of her book and following in her mischievous steps. Petunia, who is holding little David in her arms, certainly notices when her brother puts a cupcake on fire. Her uncle Sean, who has been about to eat said cupcake, does not miss it either and ends up with half a brow burned.

Sweet David giggles and claps his hands.

_oops_

*

Charles and Jean are waiting for Lily at the train station.

Charles hears someone think about 'that muggle' with a heavy dose of scorn and, against his better jugdement, he focuses on the person's mind. It is a woman: Walburga of the Noble House of Black. The capitals are heard bright and clear. As do the disparaging comments the woman throws everyone's way: 'Bastard' son' 'Filthy Mudblood' 'Useless rat' 'Director's tramp' 'Thieves since five generations' 'Shameful'. Charles has to give her points for being insulting to everyone, not only muggleborns but 'pure'bloods as well. 

Soon, the train arrives and her own attention focuses on her son. Her **only** son, she insists. 

Lily rushes to them. Severus follows at a slower rate. Charles smiles at them both and embraces his daughter distractedly. His mind already back on Walburga and her son.

Lily does not take offense of it. She knows too well how her papa is, letting himself be transported by the various minds' flow. She turns to Jean and shares a loaded look with her. She rolls her eyes fondly and rushes to hug her sister.

Charles sees -both physically and mentally- Regulus Black.

It is a revelation.

This lone, lone, lonely boy is so much like Jean was when he first met her that it hurts.

'Lily,' he calls his daughter faintly.

'Papa.' 

She approaches him and tries to follow his gaze but there are too many people.

'Regulus Black,' she hears her papa say without intonation and-oh. She knows what is coming. 'I want you to befriend him.' 

Dang it. She knew it.

*

It has become a tradition. Petunia and Lily will spend a month of the summer holls at home with their parents as well as visit David and aund Gaby and another in Westminster with their papa, Jean and their uncles. 

This year, they spend the first half in America at the Xavier School. Lily takes avantage of the early mornings to write to Severus and her friends as well as writing to the youngest Black.

She should not be surprised that Regulus starts to respond only after the second letter she sends him. If her papa asked her to befriend him, it could not be because he is as distateful as the people that surround him at school nor the rest of his family (minus Sirius Black, of course). She finds how much different he is from them as they continue to write each other.

Once the month comes to an end and it is time for Tuney and her to leave the american part of their family, Lily sets out to meet Regulus.

Tuney glances at her from the corner of her eyes and huffs. 'Really? Another unsavory boy?'

Lily chortles. 'He is not unsavory, Tuney. Just lonely.'

Tuney hums disapprovingly. Tuney always could make her feelings widely known without using any words. Long paragraphs recited in a sculpted raised eyebrow or a muted sound. This time does not disappoint.

Lily pouts. 'Did Severus ever proved to be a bad person?'

Tuney's lips pull downward which is her way of saying 'No, but it does not mean he won't ever. And it certainly does not mean I have to like him.'

Lily fights to keep her own lips from forming a triumphant smile.

Tuney recognizes her mirth anyway. She huffs and turns her head, making her glossy blond hair whip. Lily is sure she practiced the gesture at least ten times in the mirror. 'Do what you want, Lily. But if that little shrimp even thinks of hurting your feelings, he won't see me coming.'

Lily's heart warms at her sister's threatening words. 'I love you too, Tuney.'

Lily easily translates Tuney next huff as 'Baby sister, you're so naive. What I am going to do with you? I love you too, dummy.'

*

His three daughters are standing a little far away on a street in Hogsmeade and giggling at some anedocte Jean is sharing. Most likely the one about Scott falling into the lake back at the Mansion. Charles is perusing a selection of objects in a shop's window with Severus, when the boy goes rigid at his side.

'Something the matter, Severus?'

'Yes. Something the matter, Snape?'

Charles rolls his chair around to face the newcomer. Hair like a rat's nest, tall and sprightly, wearing a smirk on his pretty face. Charles easily recognizes him as James 'annoying little fucker' Potter.

'So', he muses, 'you are the boy who wants to date my darling daughter?'

James Potter stops and frowns in confusion at him. His friends: Sirius 'impossible' Black, 'wonderful' Remus Lupin and 'friendly but shy' Peter Pettigrew come to join him.

Remus's eyes lit in recognition. 'Sir,' he salutes respectfully.

Charles nods in acknowledgment. 'It is nice to see you again, Remus.'

'You as well, sir,' the boy responds with an impish grin.

' _Really nice. Lily has been feeling down for quite some time, sir,_ ' he thinks.

Charles' lips pinch. He nods grimly. 

Severus stiffens at his side. He reads correctly that Charles has been communicating telepathically. He does not like it. More accurately, he does not like the fact that Charles is using his telepathy to 'bond' with his school nemeses.

Charles pats his right arm reassuringly. That boy and his insecurities. Charles needs to have a serious talk with him about them.

James Potter's frown deepens when he sees the gesture.

'Charles Xavier,' Charles offers. 'I am Lily's father.'

The boy's eyes widen comically. ' _What did Lily told him?,'_ he thinks. _'What did Snivellus told him? How does Moony knows him? What did not he tell me he met him? What do I do? What do I say? Oh Merlin, don't make me make a fool of myself_.'

Sirius Black snickers and Peter Pettigrew turns his head to hide a laugh behind a cough.

'A fool?' Charles asks with poise, making the boy stiffen and Severus relax. 'I suppose it depends of your next actions.'

James Potter stops all movement. His stillness startle his friends and make them look at him with wariness. James' eyes fly from him to Severus then back again. He throws a glance Remus' way before looking back at Charles.

'You are a legilimens,' he states.

Smart and percipient. Of course, Charles should expect nothing less from a boy who succeedded in becoming an animagus at fourteen.

Charles offers him a thin smile. 'I am.'

Sirius Black takes a step forth and puts himself protectively in front of his friends.

'I thought Lily was a muggleborn,' young Peter says with befuddlement.

'She is,' Remus answers. 'Muggles have legilimens too.'

'Muggles call us telepaths,' Charles says to clear Peter's confusion. 'We are the muggle equivalent of your legilimens. We do not have magic.' 

Peter nods his head but keeps on sporting a dubious look on his face. 

Charles turns his attention back towards James Potter or what he can see of him behind his friend's figure. 'And you are a very talented young wizard with a too-inflated ego.' Mr. Black's face take on a rebellious figure. 'If my daughter does not want to date you, either take no for an answer and step aside, or ask her and yourself why she refuses to give you a chance.'

James Potter gently pushes his friend aside to better see him. 'And then?'

'Then you either change your behaviour for the better or you step aside and move on,' he responds firmly.

The boy gives him a self deprecating smile. 'You do not like me much, sir. Do you?'

'If it is because of Snivellus,' Mr. Black intervenes, 'then you should know anything he says is utter bullshit.'

Severus snarls. Charles takes a hold of his right arm and sends him waves of calm and reassurance.

' _Papa_?,' he hears Jean calling him. ' _Do you want us to come?_ '

' _No, sweetheart. In fact, I would rather prefer you take your sisters away for the next minutes_.'

'Calling him 'Snivellus' does not entice you to me,' he responds with a mental snap on the rebellious teen's head. Mr. Black startles from surprise. 'And I have known Severus for years. I know him far better than petty animosity would allow you to.'

James Potter has the decency to look contrite. 

'I did not say I do not like you,' Charles continues. 'I simply think that you have a bit more maturity to gain before you can think on having any kind of relationship with my daughter.'

*

Jean had wished for years that Westminster were in England. That way she would see her extended family more often. It seems like everytime they travel, David has become bigger and taller and more mischievous. It seems like she is missing on her baby brother's life and she dislikes it.

It is a good thing her papa has decided on uprooting the school closer to their real home. He has been reading through magic books and building connections in America and Britain's magical communities for years. Now, he is working with Hank and a couple of unspeakables on building wards that will create a two ways door between different places and make it able for anyone to travel no matter the distance. 

This way the Mansion would have a foot in Westminster and another in London. The students would still be able to come and go to rejoin their family and/or friends.

And Jean's family could be reunited. 

And it is not even taking into account the giant advancement it will provide to the Magical community. No boats or brooms needed for long distance travels. Only her papa' wards. 

Jean is loving life. She can not wait to see David and Petunia every day of every week!

' _Mostly Petunia_ ,' her papa teases her from across the school.

' _Papa!_ ,' she whines.

And if she blushes, well. No one is here to see it.

*

Professor Slughorn knows all about the famed Charles Xavier. It might have been the sole reason he first invites Lily Evans to join his parties. But soon enough, he only does so for Lily herself. The girl is so brilliant and lively and purehearted.

One day, she offers him a lily petal that melts into a gold fish. 

She performs the most beautiful magic.

She is the most beautiful person there is to know.

*

Petunia met Vernon Dursley on a weekend spent with her college friends in Wiltshire. She thought him thoughtful and gentle and hard working. Vernon always had an opinion on everything, be it the current politics or the dubious colors of the napkins on their dinner tables. And he made the most peculiar jokes. Petunia always found herself startled and chortling.

All around, he is a wonderful person. She is not afraid to admit she is smitten. 

Then she presents him to Lily and hears him make snide comments about how much of a 'freak' her sister is.

She slaps the jerk and breaks up with him.

*

Jean loves Scott. 

Scott is a bit of a prick (alright. _A lot_ ). He is self righteous and can be downright rude. He always struts around like he knows best than you -he does not. He can make her blood boil like no one can.

But Scott is also mindful of her feelings, and funny and smart and brave. He is always there to help the younger ones. He wants to make the future a better world and plans to join the X-Men once he is of age. 

And those _biceps_. Jean is an hormonal teenager. She has a lot of difficulties resisting the will to pounce on him, okay?

Jean loves nothing more than to see him upturn his nose when he chortles. Nor than watching him bare his throat when he rejects his head in laughter and clutches his belly.

Jean loves Scott. 

However, love is not enough. Not when Scott can not bear to have her in his mind. 

Jean can't help it. When she loses concentration -and how can anyone expects her to keep it when Scott latches onto her neck and sucks like a vampire?!- her mind goes haywire and goes to bury in the nearest mind. Which is Scott's. She can not help it even if she tried a thousand times to. And a thousand times more to explain it to him.

Yet, Scott won't understand. He can even less accept it.

She breaks up with him.

*

Once the wards are done and going to a London street is as easy as to take a car to Westminster's village, Jean does not lose time and goes to Petunia's flat.

Petunia is Lily and David's sister but she is not hers. It never felt right for her, nor for Petunia. It has nothing to do with mutant genes and magic. Petunia and Jean just were not made to be sisters.

Jean supposes it is better that way. She is already rejected by most of her peers for being a telepath. She does not need to add an incestuous relationship to the mix.

*

David is...

Well.

To Petunia he is 'my dearest love.'

Lily calls him her partner in crime.

Jean simply dotes on him.

Hank is always bemused by him and has no name or word for him.

Alex sees another blond boy in David. He is always bittersweet. Yet his mixed feelings never stop him from reaching towards his nephew tickle him.

Sean calls him 'baby bro' and ruffles his hair all the time.

Rose and Andrew call him their 'fourth child'. 

To Charles, Davis is...

a small eight years old with yellow sun hair, ephelids and his mother's smile.

a merry child who likes to run everywhere, who is boundlessly curious and watches the world in perpetual wonder.

a mutant with telepathy, telekinesis and pyrokinesis abilities.

a tiny boy being assaulted daily by other minds' presence. Not the way Charles mind's was when his telepathy manifested and he thought he was going mad hearing voices. But the way other mutants recognise a vulnerable child with powerful abilities and wish to plunge into his mind to make themselves at home.

David is _his daddy's dearest_. And Charles is not going to let anything happen to him.

*

Petunia is all too aware that she is the only 'normal' child among Charles Xavier's brood. Years ago she recented it. (In another life she would have worked to be as normal as possible, even going as far as to hurt her nephew to beat the freakiness out of him). Now she merely rolls her eyes at her siblings and lover's antics. Being 'normal' mostly means she has to put up with double the mischief.

Petunia has no problem with being 'the odd one'. She learned a long time ago that she was special too and that her uniqueness lied elsewhere than with magic and mutation. 

Right now, it is firmly planted in her ambitions to burrow her own place in the political landscape of England. 

*

Mystic eventually learns about her estranged brother's growing family.

She thinks about her own son and muses.

Magneto hears about it as well and freezes.

'What did you say.'

*

Lily is laughing at a joke Sirius shared when she opens the entrance door. Her laughter sputters out when she realises who is standing on her front porch.

'Hello,' Magneto, her papa's _Erik_ says. 'You are Lily, aren't you? Is your father here?'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -mr. snape is not killed. charles heavily suggests that he leaves the 'family' home and never return.
> 
> -yes, petunia and jean are an item. their feelings grew with them but they only started dating about a decade after meeting each other. petunia met and fell in love with other people. jean focused on her own burgeoning feelings for scott. they did not stop being in love with each other, they merely needed time (a lot of it) before getting together.
> 
> i may have rushed in it but i wanted it for them to not be anything casual but an evidence. for them and the whole family it is not a surprise but an 'of course, it is an obvious continuation of their relationship'. i chose not to go into it deeper, nor lily's relationship, nor any relationship because romantic love is not the main interest of the story. it is about family.
> 
> -whether there is a voldemort is up to you. personally i like to think that if there is one, severus does not deflect to him (because lily and he stay friends!) and lily never dies.
> 
> -lily ends up friends with the marauders, not just remus. whether it means she also dates james is up to you.
> 
> -that mess with DOFP never happens. which means that; stryker's experimentations do not kill anyone from XMFC (he actually dies early on by magneto's hand), magneto is not accused of JFK's murder and hidden in the Pentagon's basement, mystic does not go on a wild good chase. charles does falls into a depression (because war happens and alex gets drafted, the school closes) but he does not end up a junky. hank still makes a serum to 'cure' himself but petunia threatens to throw it the WC if he does not try to accept himself first before using it.
> 
> (charles told you she could bullhead her way through anything, including people's hearts.)
> 
> -logan arrives early on AND stays.
> 
> -the three musketeers -aka Alex, Hank and Sean- stay alive and well and safe and happy and together and everything that you think happened to them in DOFP is only the result of a fever dream. you can't fight me on that.
> 
> -i love R.A.B. he deserves all the best and all the love. give me lily evans (or anyone, really) protecting him from his family and death eaters and knocking some sense into his brother's head anyday.
> 
> -i also love sirius black albeit it may not be obvious here. he is mostly seen from others' pov: young lily who thinks him 'impossible' as in abrasive and jerky, his nemesis severus snape (and we all know how much snape and the marauders hated each other), and charles who merely sees him as a boy growing up. teenage sirius black can be a jerk but he also is a just and loyal boy who grew up in a racist and hateful family, became an animagus for his friend's sake and left home at sixteen. i love him (thought i dig his brother more. sue me.)
> 
> -james potter grows up.
> 
> -i won't be talking about peter.
> 
> -david haller is still affected by the world around him but he has his extended family to protect him, as well as his father and sister jean who build a shield around his mind, and magical wards. he'll grow up from being a happy child to a happy pre-teen to a sullen teenager to a happy adult.
> 
> -somewhere among all of that, hogwart's talking hat and charles meet. they get along like a house on fire :)
> 
> -vernon dursley catches a magical STD and never recovers.
> 
> -erik comes back and takes the place charles always kept open for him in the family.


End file.
